Objective and investment policy

Objective

The fund aims to provide a combination of capital growth and income to deliver a return that is higher than that of the MSCI All Country World Index over any five-year period.

Investment policy and strategy

Core investment: At least 80% of the fund is invested in the shares of companies across any sector and of any size and from anywhere in the world, including emerging markets*.

Other investments:The fund may also invest indirectly via other funds, as well as hold cash and assets that can be turned quickly into cash.

Strategy in brief: The investment process involves the identification of ‘themes’ arising from changes within economies, industries and societies that happen over time and finding companies that can take advantage of them.

Themes are identified through the analysis of global macroeconomics, demographics, government policies and spending, and technological innovation, among other considerations. The fund manager then selects stocks that can benefit from these themes on the basis of the companies’ quality, growth prospects and valuation.

* Emerging market countries are defined as those included within the MSCI Emerging Markets Index and/or those included in the World Bank’s definition of developing economies, as updated from time to time.

Risks associated with the fund

The value of investments and the income from them will rise and fall. This will cause the fund price, as well as any income paid by the fund, to fall as well as rise. There is no guarantee the fund will achieve its objective, and you may not get back the amount you originally invested.

Changes in currency exchange rates will affect the value of your investment.

Where market conditions make it hard to sell the fund’s investments at a fair price to meet customers’ sale requests, we may temporarily suspend dealing in the fund’s shares.

Some transactions the fund makes, such as placing cash on deposit, require the
use of other financial institutions (for example, banks). If one of these institutions
defaults on their obligations or becomes insolvent, the fund may incur a loss.

Other information

The fund invests mainly in company shares and is therefore likely to experience larger price fluctuations than funds that invest in bonds and/or cash.

Performance

The value of investments will fluctuate, which will cause fund prices to fall as well as rise and you may not get back the original amount you invested. The level of any income earned by the fund will fluctuate. Past performance is not a guide to future performance. The performance data does not take account of the commissions and costs incurred on the issue and redemption of units.

The fund launched on 28 February 1973.

The fund re-launched on 17 November 2000. On this date the fund’s name, objective, performance comparative index and sector changed.

Past performance shown in the graph and table to 16 November 2017 is the FTSE Global Basics Composite Index (comprising of all subsectors of the FTSE World Index except media, IT, telecommunications, financials and healthcare). Past performance shown from 17 November 2017 is the MSCI All Country World Index.

Source: Price: State Street. Performance: Morningstar. Performance figures are shown on a price to price with net income reinvested basis. Performance figures may not reflect all relevant charges.

News

Fund Team

Jamie Horvat
- Fund manager

Jamie joined M&G in December 2013 and was appointed manager of the Vanguard Precious Metals and Mining Fund. In December 2015 he also became lead manager of the M&G Global Themes Fund.

Jamie commenced his investment career in 1999, having managed resources, generalist and alternative mandates while in North America. In addition, Jamie has managed various institutional mandates for clients based in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and North America. He holds a MSc Finance from the London School of Economics and Political Science, as well as an Honours B Comm from McMaster University and a diploma in Mechanical Engineering Technology from Mohawk College in Canada.

Richard Halle
- Deputy Manager

Richard Halle joined M&G in 1999 as a sector analyst focusing on insurance. Since 2002, he has been managing various institutional mandates on a European value strategy, and in 2008, he was appointed fund manager of the M&G European Strategic Value Fund upon its launch. In November 2017 he was also appointed deputy fund manager of the M&G Global Themes Fund. Before joining M&G, Richard worked as a security analyst for the Sedgwick Group. He graduated from the University of Natal in South Africa with a bachelor of commerce and is a chartered financial analyst (CFA) charterholder.

Henrietta Walker
- Investment specialist

Henrietta Walker is the investment specialist for the M&G Global Themes Fund, Charifund and NAACIF. She joined M&G in February 2012 as the investment specialist responsible for the M&G Property Portfolio. Prior to working at M&G, Henrietta was International Head of Manager Selection at JPMorgan Private Bank. Before that she was a senior analyst at OBSR. Henrietta has over 24 years' experience in financial services, having previously worked at Credit Suisse Private Bank and Cazenove. She has an economics degree from Cambridge University and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment.

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For Investment Professionals only. Not for onward distribution to any other type of client. No other persons should rely on the information contained on this website. Content should therefore be shared responsibly with other investment professionals. The value of investments will fluctuate, which will cause fund prices to fall as well as rise and you may not get back the original amount you invested.